Coming soon through Dutch imprint Headspin Records is a new split 12″ from German psych purveyors Krautzone and New Zealand’s Lamp of the Universe that features extended works from both bands and an overarching swirl between them that’s irresistibly if expectedly hypnotic. For Krautzone, whose lineup boasts members of Zone Six and Electric Moon — Sula Bassana and Modulfix on synth, Onkel Kaktus on bass, Komet Lulu on drums, Rainer Neeff (also The Pancakes) on guitar — it is the follow-up to their 2013 Sulatron Records debut, Kosmiche Rituale, and it presents in similar form. That album showcased three longer tracks of jammed out heavy space/Krautrock prog, and the new split follows suit, with the aptly-named two-parter “Superkraut” taking up the entirety of their side, accounting for 22 minutes of spaced-out instrumental progression, a steady current of organ and guitar fuzz marking out the improv-sounding jam in its first half while the second part gets even farther out into the cosmos, the drums holding firm as swirling drones begin a build of guitar that starts serene and ends serene but offers a surging wash of noise along the way in a satisfying trance of a journey.

While Krautzone plunge into the dark matter reaches of an unexplored spectrum, Lamp of the Universe provide fitting complement by taking that same search and turning it inward. Those familiar with the solo-project of Hamilton-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Craig Williamson know he’s always had a deeply spiritual approach, and his 22-minute track for this split, “Doors of Perception,” behaves accordingly, but where Williamson (ex-Datura) has spent the last couple years in the more straightforward heavy rock-minded Arc of Ascent and even Lamp of the Universe‘s last outing, 2013’s Transcendence (review here), seemed to move in a more traditional songwriting direction, “Doors of Perception” opens with seven-plus minutes of effects swirl before Williamson‘s signature clean-sounding acoustic guitar kicks in, and if you’ve been listening front to back after Krautzone‘s two tracks, the arrival of vocals about a minute later is like the exhale that must come when you reach the temple at the top of a mountain. Williamson unfolds a gorgeous, contemplative progression and then gradually gives way once again to psychedelic experimentation after the 13th minute, sitar, wah guitar and percussion gradually bringing the piece to a noisy apex.

The two acts pair together remarkably well, and both “Superkraut” and “Doors of Perception” offer substantial glimpses of psychedelic flourish that seem bent on drawing the distinction between consciousness and self. I encourage you to dig in on the player below, and be wary of getting lost in the lushness of the tones and vibes:

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Krautzone and Lamp of the Universe‘s split LP is coming soon on Headspin Records in a limited pressing of 500 copies — 200 color vinyl, 300 black — and boasts a silver embossed cover by Lulu Artwork. More info at the links.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2014 at 11:29 am and is filed under audiObelisk.
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